In his selection of 24 science and nature pieces, psychologist Dan Ariely (the author of Predictably Irrational) moves from bacteria through animals, humans (the good stuff and the bad stuff), the environment, and technology. "You are mostly not you," begins Brendan Buhler in "The Teeming Metropolis of You," while David Dobb's "Beautiful Brains" and David Eagleman's "The Brain on Trial" both consider the complexities of human development and how they relate to the decisions we make, and Rivka Galchen plumbs one of the world's most extraordinary minds, talking to David Deutsch about quantum computers and parallel worlds. Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For this title, as for each of the others, a series editor reviews hundreds of periodicals, then selects between 50 and 100 outstanding works. The guest editor—a recognized expert in the field—then pares the list down to the 20 or so very best pieces.